Can't you gracious me?

A few months back, our daughter was having a particularly difficult day. She had blatantly disobeyed our instruction all day long, and we were weary from the constant discipline and correction. We were tired of telling her "No," and she was tired of hearing it. So we decided to relent and give her grace. We told her, "we are choosing to be gracious to you right now, and we are going to let you do the thing that brings you joy right now. You've disobeyed, and we have been keeping you from the fun things all day long. Even though you don't deserve it, we want to be gracious and give this to you." Her eyes lit up, and she jumped up and down with joy! She was so excited because she knew discipline was coming but instead received a gift of grace. She even ran to me and said in such a sweet, sincere voice, "Mommy, I love you!" Now, when she knows she's been disobedient, she asks us, "Can't you gracious me?!" She may not understand the concept of grace, but she knows it's something she doesn't deserve, and she knows it brings joy to her heart. I hope you're seeing the parallel here, but in case you're not, here it comes...

Everything we do deserves discipline and consequences. But God gives more grace... While we were sinners, Christ died for us, and God gave more grace. Do we react the same way that my daughter did? Are we overcome with joy? Do we run to our father in love and thank Him for the grace He gives which is infinitely more than we could ever give our children? Or do we instead continue to sin, demanding to our Holy God, "Can't you gracious me?" God's grace is an unearned gift. Let's constantly remember the grace our Father daily gives, and let's strive to show the same grace to our children in an effort to point them to Jesus.

Father, we praise you and thank you for the unfathomable grace found only in Christ. Help us to parent our little blessings out of thankful hearts, and help us to reflect even a portion of your grace onto their impressionable little souls.